History is punctuated by endings: the end of shared certainties, the abandonment of shared practices, and death. Endings can be dramatic and spectacular: the imagined apocalypse brought about by nuclear war, global pandemic, zombie hordes, or the brimstone of God's wrath. Similarly, we are surrounded by endings in our lives. Endings can be quiet and quotidian: films end, books end, and seminars end. As scholars, these endings are not true endings, but beginnings, because endings are horizons of experience, process, and development, the organic or evolutionary transition to a new way of being. After the end is when we begin our work, for we can only respond after something has ended. We turn off the TV. We close the book. And we begin to write.

This is also true when the endings are not literal. In the same way that we can only begin to work after something ends, it is after the end that we discover new ways of speaking, creating, and being. We speak about post-modernism and post-colonialism and post-humanism, implying that what came before has ended and we have moved on. We theorize the end of the world. We explore both the negative horizon and the productive potential of endings. This is where we invite you to take up the conversation. The graduate students of the Cultural Analysis and Theory Department at Stony Brook University invite proposals for a 2014 conference around the theme of "endings." What happens after the end? Are endings terrifying possibilities, or are they opportunities for growth?

Possible topics include (but are not limited to) discussions on: • Literal endings (including the apocalypse or after) • "Post" designations or the ending of a time period • Literary forms and their endings • The end of discursive and/or epistemological forms • Any other social and cultural phenomenon that emphasize the products and practices whose lives were cut short but nevertheless are historical moments constitutive of the present.

Papers will be 20 minutes in length and will be delivered as a part of a three-person panel. After all presenters, there will be 20 minutes for questions and discussion. Please submit abstracts to catgradconf@gmail.com by July 15st. Abstracts should be no more than 300 words and include four keywords. We also welcome panel proposals.

The conference will include panels with discussion, a keynote speaker, and a number of other events including an artist exhibition. It will be followed by a reception in the city (location TBA).